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EXAMINATION DESCRIPTION
When and Where the Examinations are Offered
The American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS), the official certifying body of the American Association of Physician Specialists, Inc. (AAPS), offers computer-based certification examinations for the American Board of Hospital Medicine (ABHM) twice a year, generally in May and September. The examination is offered at testing centers throughout the United States and Canada. The administration "window" is usually four weeks, and the candidate may take the examination on any day during the administration window that his/her selected test center is open. The four-hour exam must be taken in a single sitting.The examination process in Hospital Medicine requires candidates to pass a computer-based (written) examination.
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When Examination Results are Available
ABPS sends examination results to candidates within 75 days of the last day of the administration window. Each examination is scored against predetermined standards of acceptable performance, utilizing modified Angoff procedures for establishing the minimum acceptable scores.The Written Examination—What to Expect
The written examination consists of approximately 200 multiple-choice questions offering four answer alternatives. (Experimental or non-scorable items may also appear on an examination. These questions will not necessarily be identified as non-scorable.) Each scorable question has only one correct answer. ABPS also provides a formal comment form on which a candidate can enter comments regarding any question. All comments are read to determine if an item (question) may be flawed. Upon review of the comments and item analysis (statistical data), if an item is considered flawed, it is removed from the scoring of the examination. The passing score on forms of the examinations varies depending upon the expected performance values of the individual questions on the examination. Each response to a question is scored as correct or not correct, with no penalty for guessing in the calculation of a candidate’s final score. Candidates receive score reports indicating their pass/fail status on the examination. Candidates who fail are provided a breakdown of their performance by subject content domains. All ABPS examinations are administered only in English. Responses from examinees to examination questions must be in English for the candidate to be eligible to receive credit towards his or her examination score.The following table lists the approximate number of items in each domain included on each form of the examination:
| Domain | Number of Questions | |
| 1 | Critical Care/Pulmonology | 40 |
| 2 | Cardiology/Vascular Disorders | 40 |
| 3 | Gastrointestinal Disorders | 30 |
| 4 | Nephrology | 20 |
| 5 | Infectious Diseases | 20 |
| 6 | Rheumatology/Immunology | 5 |
| 7 | Psychiatry | 4 |
| 8 | Perioperative Care | 5 |
| 9 | Neurology | 5 |
| 10 | Hematology/Oncology | 4 |
| 11 | Gynecology | 4 |
| 12 | Genitourinary Disorders | 5 |
| 13 | Endocrine Disorders | 5 |
| 14 | Dermatology | 4 |
| 15 | Case Management/Ethics | 5 |
| 16 | Toxicology | 5 |
Hospital Medicine Examination Study References
You may wish to use the study references to prepare for the written certification or recertification examinations. The Examinations Committee uses these references to create questions for the examinations.
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Download Study References |
Retaking Examinations
A candidate may take the written examination as many as three times to attain a passing score. A candidate who is successful in passing the written examination is then certified and attains Diplomate status within ABPS and AAPS. Candidates who are not successful in passing the examination within the number of allowable attempts may reapply for certification by completing a new application and meeting all the requirements in effect at the time the new application is submitted.
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